Ahhhhh......the plane rides....I guess that's where we left off, and I'll begin there. So, picture this, a beautiful day, church in the morning, and three little boys. You see, these three little boys are my brothers, and they were so confused and nervous about what was to come. They knew JUST enough about the court date to know that something weird and strange was going to happen.....and they didn't like it. We came home from church, all the while with testy, scared boys, and showered, because we were not going to have a chance to shower until Tuesday evening. Ma Ju and Papa Larry were going to drive with us and the boys to the airport, and then take them to Bolivar. The grandparents and our aunt and uncle were going to take turns watching them while we were gone, and it just so happened that Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Jeremy, in Bolivar, got the first turn. We really had an EXTREMELY smooth time at the Springfield airport, so all too quickly it was time to say goodbye. We said our goodbyes, and continued onto the next leg of our journey, the first flight.
We picked up some dinner, and sat at our gate waiting to board the plane. On this flight, it would be me and Emmy sitting together, Dad by himself, and Mom and Graham in a whole different section of the plane. We were all in a good mood on this flight, so Emmy and I easily knowcked out some school. This flight was only and hour and twenty minutes, so it really didn't feel that bad at all. This flight from Springfield to Chicago passed quickly. In Chicago now, we patiently waited for an hour to board our plane. On this flight it was getting late, so we decided that we'd do just a little bit of school, but basically watch a part of a movie we had downloaded. This flight was also an hour and twenty minutes. This flight over, we were in Washington. Originally we had planned that since it was already midnight, we would just spend the night in the airport, but once we realized how long our layover was(from 12:30 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.), we figured we should get some decent sleep, so we decided to find a hotel. We did that pretty quickly, and God blessed us with a less than half the normal price rate. We just went straight to bed to get as much sleep as possible, to be ready for the next leg.
We took a shuttle to the airport and went through customs again, and waited. Now, this was to be the thirteen hour flight. We were trying not to think about how long it would be, so we were patient at the time. We boarded and were good, until about four hours into it. This is where it began getting long. Since we were going through many different time zones, the routine of the plane was designed to help us get used to Addis's time. So, we had a snack in place of lunch, dinner, and breakfast, and designated sleeping periods. On this flight we were positioned as so; Graham, Emmy, and I, and then Mom and Dad across the isle differennt place. It was finally time to sleep, and we got all comfy....or as comfy as you can get in between two people on a plane....Emmy fell asleep right away, and I was dozing for about an hour. When I woke up, Emmy was still asleep on top of me, and Graham was playing a game. Emmy woke up about thirty minutes later I think, and we tried to rearrange. Now, the way we were doing it was Graham was on the window side, I was in the middle, and Emmy was on the other side. The lucky people were the ones that had a whole row to themselves, and could lay down and stretch out. The man in the row directly behind us one of those lucky ones, and his knees were right behind my seat, so I couldn't lay my seat back. I tried to get comfortable, but Emmy and Graham were both really hiper, and not willing to go to sleep, so they just kept wiggling and moving around, so every time I was about to fall asleep they'd wake me up by moving around. I finaly asked emmy if I could switch her seats, so I could lay down and not be squished by two wriggling siblings!! Mom, Dad, and I ended up sleeping for most of the rest of the way. We made it, but I am so tired of planes....
Anyway, it was 7 A.M. here, and we were ready to get to the guest house, and just rest. So as we are going through and getting our passports checked, a girl probably about my age started following us. We didn't really pay much attention to her at the moment, because wehave to remember that we are the minority here, and we are the ones that stand out. There are not many whites here, other than the foreign visitors like us. But soon, as our last passport was getting checked she tried to take it from the lady that was checking them. Thankfully dad got it first, but then we knew she was trouble, and were keeping our eyes open. She continued to follow us, and tried to take some luggage from Mom, but mom just held on tighter and kept walking. Now, we were outside, and there were police watching, so she just kept asking for our passports and luggage, but we just ignored her. We finally found who we were looking for, and we left. Now the tiredness was really beginning to hit all of us, but especially Emmy and Graham, since they didn't really sleep all that much on the plane. We got the the guest house, and decided that we would leave at about one thirty to go sightseeing. But first, we were going to nap. We did that, and Mom, Dad, and I were ready, but...... Emmy and Graham were NOT!!!! Anyway, we were waiting for our driver to get here, and next thing we know, Graham and Emmy are both COMPLETELY out in the lobby sort of area. Now Emmy was beginning to feel bad while we waited, and woke up, went to the bathroom, and threw up, three times. It was bad, and we were debating whether or not we should go when they arrived. Emmy said she didn't want to ruin our fun, and that she was feeling a LITTLE bit better, so we went. We drove around a little to just see the people and what they were doing, and then we went to a lion zoo.
I must close for now, but I will continue with more later. Please pray for my sister to feel completely beter. Tomorrow is the day we meet the Fource.
Aubrey for the Stinsons
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